Congratulations Varndean Musicians!

On Wednesday night, many ex-pupils of Downs Junior School, who are now in Years 7, 8 and 9, performed at the Summer Concert at Varndean School. It was a wonderful night and it was lovely to see so many children still learning and progressing and nurturing their talents in music. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Congratulations to 4F and 4DP for the brilliant ukulele concerts today. The children have working hard with Mr McGuigan and Miss Rusbatch and learned a huge amount in only 9 weeks. Keep your eyes peeled on the Ukulele page for videos of the concert.

Huge thanks to Mr McGuigan. Sadly, today was his last day teaching ukulele with Miss Rusbatch at Downs Junior School. He will be greatly missed. Excitingly (for him and his future pupils) he is heading into the world primary school class teaching. We at Downs Junior would like to wish him well with his future endeavours.

Congratulations to current pupils Maya, Maizy, Ella, Daisy and Jemima, and ex-pupils Jake, Erin, Ewan and Jenny, who performed with the Brighton & Hove Junior Orchestra and the Saturday Strings Group last night at St John the Evangelist's Church: It was a wonderful concert. Particular highlights were the Harry Potter medley and the New World Symphony. Congratulations also to our violin teacher and Saturday Strings leader Lisa de Simone.

Congratulations to Laurie (Y4), Johnny (Y5) and (ex-pupil) Bertie on their brilliant performances as Lost Boys in Peter Pan at 88 London Road (Emporium) last night. Ex-pupil Mackenzie is also performing in some of the shows. Peter Pan is running until 9th July. For tickets, and more information, visit the theatre's WEBSITE.

On Friday, we were treated to brilliant percussive performances by Drum United. Their shows incorporated drums, xylophones, body percussion, comedy, silliness, audience participation and lots of fun! Keep your eyes peeled for videos, to give you sneak peek of what we experienced.

With only a few weeks to go, before her Grade 5 violin exam, Ella is sounding great - huge thanks to her teacher, Lisa de Simone and today's accompanist, Dan. I sneaked in and recorded some of today's rehearsal!